Insect catching apparatus

ABSTRACT

An apparatus for catching insects is disclosed, which includes an insect-carrying chamber having an opening large enough to allow an insect to pass therethrough. The opening is closable by way of a shutter so that when the insect enters the chamber, it may be trapped therein by moving the shutter to its closed position.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to apparatus for catching insects.

It will be appreciated that there are a number of "creepy crawly" typehousehold pests which are generally referred to as insects which are notstrictly members of the insect family. Examples of this are spiders. Forthe purposes of this specification, the term insects will be taken toinclude any such creature and encompass flies, beetles, spiders, bees,wasps and moths, and other similar creatures.

The commonest methods of disposing of insects include spraying theinsect with a fly spray including insecticide, using an attractive lightto attract insects to it and kill them, and even more commonly, hittingthe insect with any convenient object to hand, usually a rolled upnewspaper. The disadvantage of the first method is that it adds to airpollution, and also many people dislike seeing an insect die in thismanner. The types of attractive light which are often used in forexample, food shops, can be expensive to run. The swatting of an insectcan involve skill since it is sometimes difficult to swat an insectbefore it moves away. Often, a greasy smear will be left on whicheversurface the insect has been "swatted". More importantly, all thesemethods rely on the killing of the insect to remove it. Trying to removean insect from an environment where it is not wanted, without killingit, usually involves either picking it up with the hand or trying toscoop the insect up to move it away. Apart from the fact that manypeople are scared of insects, in many cases, this is just not practical.Many people would like to avoid killing the insect to try to conservethe insect population. This is especially noticeable with bees, butoften killing is the only convenient way of disposing of an insect.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to the invention, there is provided apparatus for catchinginsects, comprising an insect carrying chamber adapted to hold an insectincluding an opening large enough to allow an insect to passtherethrough, the opening having a periphery lying in one plane suchthat if the insect carrying chamber is placed with its opening against asubstantially planar surface, a closed space is defined between thesurface and the insect carrying chamber, the apparatus including ashutter readily movable between a first position where the shutter liesover the opening to define a closed space between the shutter and theinsect carrying chamber, and a second position where the shutter doesnot obscure the opening to leave it fully open, the apparatus includingmeans to hold the insect carrying chamber and move it to its in-useposition with its opening periphery against a substantially planarsurface, the apparatus being arranged such that in said in-use positionthe shutter is readily movable from its second position to its firstposition.

The apparatus is used by placing the insect carrying chamber over aninsect that is positioned on a substantially planar surface so that theinsect lies within the closed space defined between the insect chamberand the surface, and then closing the shutter by moving it from itssecond position to its first position so that the insect is heldsecurely within the space defined by the chamber and the shutter. Theapparatus can then be moved to another location where the shutter can bemoved to its second position to allow the insect to escape.

The advantage of using such apparatus is that the insect can be caughteffectively on any surface on which it sits, and can be readily disposedof without having to kill the insect.

The means to hold the insect carrying chamber may just be that thechamber is shaped so as to be easily hand held, but preferably theapparatus includes a handle to hold the chamber. Preferably this handleis a long handle so that the chamber can be used to reach insects ininaccessible positions. Also, the long handle allows the user to keepremote from the catching of an insect. This is especially important whenthe user is either frightened of the insect, or the insect is one suchas a wasp or hornet in which a sting or bite should be avoided.

Preferably the shutter is arranged such that it can be operated from theend of such a long handle.

However, the usual place for catching insects is when they gather onvertical surfaces such as windows. This is the most common area whereflies congregate on windows, and in this case, conveniently, the shutteris gravity operated. In this case, preferably the shutter is arranged tomove from its first to second position depending on the attitude of theinsect carrying chamber. Clearly, if the shutter is gravity operated theapparatus has to include stops on the chamber and the shutter to definethe limit position of the shutter. The shutter may be a rotating shutterwhich rotates about a pivot so that the shutter can readily be moved toits closed position by rotating the insect carrying chamber.Alternatively and preferably, the gravity operated shutter is one whichslides. Thus, the shutter is moved from its open to closed position bypositioning the apparatus such that the shutter can slide downwards. Thechamber is then carried to a point where the insect can be released andthe chamber is then rotated through 180° to allow the shutter to slideopen to allow the insect to fly away.

In most cases, the apparatus will be used indoors, either in an office,shop or in the home, and the insect will be released outside.Additionally, the apparatus may be used in a car or caravan.

In the United Kingdom, the insects to be caught by the apparatus arerelatively small, and therefore the opening size need not exceed thesize of, for example, 7.5 centimeters by 6 centimeters. However, in manycases the size of insects to be caught on most occasions will be muchsmaller than this and thus, the apparatus may be made much smaller. Thisis particularly convenient if the apparatus should be used in anenvironment such as a car.

However, in some countries the insects to be caught will be much largerand in this case the apparatus will similarly have to be enlarged.

In countries where the insects to be caught, in a domestic environment,could be dangerous, preferably the apparatus includes means to fit theopening over an insect collection chamber so that the insects arereleased from the apparatus, not into the open environment, but into acollection chamber so that they will cause no danger.

Preferably, the chamber is attached to a long handle by a flexible jointwhich allows manoeuvrability of the chamber about the surface on whichthe insect is to be caught. Conveniently this flexible joint maybeprovided by a close coiled spring into which the handle is inserted.Such a close coiled spring can act as a universal joint.

Preferably, the insect carrying chamber and shutter are made of plasticsand conveniently such plastics can be injection moulded.

Preferably, at least the chamber is constructed from transparentplastics material since this allows the user to check that they havesuccessfully caught the insect they require.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

An apparatus for catching insects in accordance with the invention willnow be described, by way of example only, with reference to theaccompanying drawings, in which:-

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the apparatus;

FIG. 2 is a side elevation of the apparatus;

FIG. 3 is a plan of the apparatus; and,

FIG. 4 is an end elevation of the apparatus.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Apparatus 1 is adapted for catching insects without having to kill them.The apparatus consists of an insect carrying chamber 3 arranged to holdan insect. It is sized such that it can hold an insect and the shape ofthe insect carrying chamber is a square or rectangular based pyramid inthat it has a substantially rectangular vertical cross-section whichtapers. The insect carrying chamber includes an opening 5 having asubstantially planar periphery 7. The insect carrying chamber 3 can beplaced with its periphery 7 lying on a substantially planar surface todefine a closed space between the chamber 3 and the surface.

The apparatus includes a shutter 9 which is readily movable between afirst position shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, in which the shutter passes overthe opening 5 to close it to define a closed chamber between the shutter9 and the chamber 3. The shutter 9 is movable to a second position shownin dotted line in FIG. 1, in which the opening 5 is left unobscured. Theshutter 9 is readily movable between it first and second positions bymeans of gravity only. The chamber 3 includes two upper stops 11 and abase stop 13 which are engaged by the shutter stop 15.

The apparatus includes means 17 for holding the chamber 3. The means 17consists of an elongate wooden handle 17 which is coupled to the chambervia closely coiled spring 19 which serves as a universal joint. Thecoiled spring 19 passes over the end of the wooden handle 17 and alsoover the end of a cylindrical projection 21 which forms an integral partof the chamber 3. In this way, the handle 17 can be hand held and allowaccess to insects that are in inaccessible places. The universal joint19 allows for flexibility and therefore manoeuvring of the chamber 3into position. The chamber 3 is made of injection moulded clearplastics, typically acrynitrilebutadeine styrene (ABS). The shutter issimilarly injection moulded of clear plastics.

This allows the user to see inside the chamber 3 to check what insectsare inside it.

In use, the user rotates the handle and chamber 3 about 180° aboutcentral axis 23 from the position shown in FIG. 1 so that the shutter 9slides downwards until shutter stop 15 engages the pairs of chamberstops 11 so that the shutter lies in the position shown in dotted linein FIG. 1. This defines the second open position of the apparatus. Theapparatus is then manoeuvred so that the opening 5 is placed over aninsect lying on a substantially vertical surface, usually a window, totrap the insect between the vertical surface and the chamber 3. Theapparatus is then rotated through 180° around centre line 23 so that itlies in a position shown in FIG. 1 so that the shutter 9 slidesdownwards so that its shutter stop 15 engages base stop 13 to define thelimit of the movement to close the opening completely to entrap theinsect within the closed space defined between the shutter 9 and thechamber 3. In this attitude the apparatus is then carried to the outsidewhere the insect is to be disposed of. The apparatus is rotated through180° to allow the shutter to open and allow the insect to escape.

The shutter 9 lies within a groove 25 spaced from the periphery of theopening. In this way, when the periphery is in contact with a surface,the shutter can still slide freely within the groove 25.

This provides a quick and convenient method of disposing of insectswithout having to kill them.

I claim:
 1. Apparatus for catching insects, comprising aninsect-carrying chamber adapted to hold an insect including an openinglarge enough to allow an insect to pass therethrough, the opening havinga periphery lying in one plane such that if the insect-carrying chamberis placed with its opening against a substantially planar surface, aclosed space is defined between the surface and the insect carryingchamber, the apparatus including a gravity operated shutter readilymovable between a first position where the shutter lies over the openingto define a closed space between the shutter and the insect-carryingchamber, and a second position where the shutter does not obscure theopening to leave it fully open, the apparatus including means to holdthe insect-carrying chamber and move it to its in-use position with itsopening periphery against a substantially planar surface, the apparatusbeing arranged such that in said in-use position the shutter is readilymovable, by the operation of gravity, from its second position to itsfirst position.
 2. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the means tohold the insect-carrying chamber includes a long handle to enable theapparatus to reach insects in inaccessible positions.
 3. Apparatus inaccordance with claim 1 in which the shutter is arranged for slidingmovement relative to the insect-carrying chamber.
 4. Apparatus accordingto claim 1 wherein the chamber is attached to a long handle by means ofa flexible joint allowing manoeuvrability of the chamber about thesurface on which the insect is to be caught.
 5. Apparatus according toclaim 1 in which the insect-carrying chamber and shutter are made oftransparent plastics material.